The island nation of Tuvalu is being kept afloat by its domain name

OUR tiny neighbouring nation of Tuvalu is ticking along thanks to millions in revenue from two tiny letters: .tv.

Samantha Beech

News Corp Australia NetworkMarch 7, 20167:16am

OUR tiny neighbouring nation of Tuvalu is ticking along thanks to millions in revenue from two tiny letters: .tv.

Tuvalu’s unique country code domain name, “.tv”, attracts interest from many individuals, entities and television companies around the world.

According to Domain Typer, some have been willing to pay big bucks for internet addresses such as pedestrian.tv or Hollywood.tv. The scheme got off to a rough start, but it’s now the South Pacific nation’s largest source of income.

In December 2001 another company took over the lease agreeing to pay the Tuvalu government US$2.2 million ($3 million) a year plus five per cent of revenue exceeding US$20 million ($29 million) per year for the right to market .tv until December 2016.

Television networks such as Russia.tv, football clubs such as Liverpoolfc.tv, video streaming sites such as ustream.tv, and celebrity websites such as emmys.tv have paid big money for a web address with the desirable suffix.

In 2002, Verisign, a large manager of web addresses, acquired the company and still operates the .tv domain today.

It’s agreed to manage the .tv address for the next five years, and the payments to Tuvalu’s government are said to be around two million dollars a year.

Cyclone Pam ... Some islands of Tuvalu were inundated by storm surges when Cyclone Pam struck the Pacific nation last year. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Harsh history

The small series of islands situated in the South Pacific between Australia and Hawaii has a population of just 11,000.

Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, there is no point on Tuvalu higher than 4.5m above sea level.

Life on the islands is simple and often harsh. Until the turn of the century, its small size and almost total lack of exploitable resources meant the country was dependent almost entirely on farming or fishing.

When Tropical Cyclone Pam hit the Pacific island nation last year, more than 300 people on the country’s three northern islands had to evacuate their homes, with high winds and huge waves hurling sand, boulders and debris.